Baker Lecture addresses academic health departments

BOWLING GREEN, O.—“Academic Health Departments: Strengthening the Quality and Performance of Public Health Practice” is the topic for the 15th annual Ned E. Baker Lecture in Public Health on April 3.

Dr. C. William Keck, who spoke at the inaugural Baker lecture in 2000, returns to BGSU this year to speak from 4-5:30 p.m. at the WBGU-TV studios, 245 Troup Ave. The lecture will also be available as a live webcast.

Keck, who is professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University and former director of health for the City of Akron, will highlight the major challenges currently facing local departments of health and describe the synergistic roles of public health practitioners, clinicians and academics in this era of health service delivery reform.  

Keck holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from Case Western Reserve University and a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is past president of the American Public Health Association, the Council on Education for Public Health, the Ohio Public Health Association, the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners and the Summit County Medical Society.  

The lecture is named after Bowling Green resident Ned. E. Baker to recognize his significant contributions to public health. He is a 1950 BGSU graduate and recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Science in Public Health degree. Through Baker’s visionary leadership, the National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH) was created. In addition to being the co-founder and first president of NALBOH, Baker also served 12 years on the Wood County Board of Health and was director of the Northwest Ohio Area Health Education Center. In 2010, he was named one of BGSU’s Most Prominent Alumni.

The lecture is free and open to the public; however, registration is required for the public event and the live webcast.

For more information, contact Jennifer Wagner at baker@bgsu.edu or 419-372-7773.

The lecture is sponsored by the BGSU Center for Excellence for Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan, BGSU College of Health and Human Services, Cove Charitable Trust of Boston, Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health and Wood County Hospital Foundation.